In the process of shipping an item from one location to another, a protective packaging material is typically placed within a shipping container to fill any voids or and/or to cushion the item during shipping. Some conventional materials used are Styrofoam pellets or peanuts, plastic bubble wrap, and padded paper in various forms. One form of protective packaging material, very well known in the art, is paper dunnage provided in strip form from multi-ply, flexible, sheet-like stock material. The edges of the stock material are rolled inwardly and the material is coined or stitched down the center of the strip to form a strip having resilient pillow-like portions. The strip is subsequently cut to a desired length and inserted into the container to cushion the item.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,639 (Simmons) is representative of numerous patents directed to relatively complicated machines and methods for producing pillow-like dunnage comprising resilient pillow-like strips. However, such a machine is a relatively complex unit, generally requiring sheets of multi-ply stock paper to be pulled over a forming frame in such a manner as to curl the lateral edges of the sheets toward the middle of the paper, forming pillow-like sections within a paper shell, the paper shell being one of the multi-ply sheets, and then coining or stitching the paper together down the middle to retain the pillow-like shape. Such a machine requires intricately matched gears to simultaneously pull the paper from the roll and coin or stitch the paper into its pillow-like form.
Such machinery is not inexpensive. Although these known machines are suitable primarily for larger-scale productions, they are generally unsuitable for smaller establishments, mail order houses, small shipping departments, individuals and the like. It would be advantageous to provide a dunnage conversion machine which converts stock paper into cushioning dunnage without requiring an expensive and complex conversion machine to perform intricate shaping and coining steps, while still providing an acceptable dunnage product.
The paper which is used to form the packaging dunnage is generally supplied on rolls mounted to a supply end of the dunnage conversion machine. The rolls are generally rotatably supported on a mounting apparatus to facilitate paper supply to the conversion machine. U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,539 (Ratzel et al.) discloses a relatively complex mandrel assembly for mounting a roll of paper onto a mounting frame. A two-piece spindle extends through the length of the paper roll, extending beyond the mounting apparatus. An end of one spindle piece must be inserted through one end of the paper roll and into an opening in an end of the second spindle piece, which must be inserted into a second end of the paper roll to form the spindle. Plugs which are rotatably mounted near each end of the spindle support either end of the paper roll on the spindle. The plugs are retained on the spindle by a plurality of pins that must be inserted diametrically through the spindle to form abutments at opposite axial ends of the plugs. The spindle is then fixed to the mounting frame by additional pins which must be inserted through the spindle into the mounting frame, preventing the spindle from rotating relative to the mounting frame.
As the paper is drawn from the roll, the plugs rotate with the roll and the plugs rotate freely about the fixed spindle. The prior art mandrel assembly does not provide the ability to apply tension to the paper roll except for whatever rotational friction is generated between the spindle and the plugs. Tension is required to reduce paper backlash which may occur when the drive motor is stopped to cut the paper. Excess backlash can separate the paper from the forming mechanism, reducing the forming and shaping capabilities of the machine, producing an unsatisfactory product. It would be advantageous to be able to set a predetermined amount of tension in the paper supply mounting apparatus to prevent or minimize backlash.
After dunnage is formed, it is generally cut into a desired length for use. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,699,609 (Komaransky), U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,327,805 (Reichental et al.), and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,569,146 (Simmons), among others, disclose cutting assemblies for cutting a strip of dunnage paper. Generally, after a desired length of dunnage is formed, an operator activates a cutting blade which is located downstream from the forming assembly. The cutting blade travels in a guillotine-like manner to cut the dunnage into strips.
None of the references disclose any type of safety interlock which prevents the cutting blade from activating in the event of a malfunction or the presence of an obstruction, such as a hand. The lack of such an interlock raises serious issues about the safety of such devices in use. It would be advantageous to incorporate into a dunnage conversion machine a cutting blade with a blade interlock to eliminate the possibility of a serious injury in the event of a malfunction or an obstruction in the machine.
The present invention provides a relatively simple apparatus for producing cushioning dunnage, a mandrel for mounting stock paper to the apparatus, and a cutting mechanism with a safety interlock for cutting the dunnage.